At the University of California,
Berkeley -- and increasingly on other college and high school campuses --
students are discovering healing Dialogue to replace obsolete rallies,
flag-waving, finger-pointing, and "taking sides" that increase
alienation and fan the flames of war.
Jewish and Arab students are not waiting for
governments, politicians, and institutions to change the world.
Remarkable young women and men are taking it on themselves to begin breaking
down walls to build long-awaited, authentic human relationships.
The newly-gathered students at Cal call themselves
"Salaam-Shalom."
They learn from one another, each expanding each one's
own knowledge, discovering together new compassion and creativity.
Jewish graduate student Roger Studley described campus
problems: "First, there is a lack of any communication between people from
different camps and groups. Secondly, everything on campus is one group
shouting at another and shouting back. It's very political, noisy, and
nobody is sitting down and talking to one another."
"The only way to break down stereotypes is
to get to know people. If they can get a dialogue going, it would be the
only place on campus where that is happening," said Rebekah Stern, an
active member of Berkeley Hillel.
At first, they delay going into the most difficult
political problems because, Palestinian Laura Haddad says, "we believe we
have to know each other first."
"Without being able to talk, you're going to be
stuck," Studley says. "Modestly, we can demonstrate this
approach. If somehow that winds up making other people who are more
important in the game take notice, that's a good thing."
"I think this is a step in the right
direction," says Salman Alam, a board member of the Muslim Student
Association.
For more information about Salaam-Shalom at U.C.
Berkeley, send e-mail to Salaam_Shalom@hotmail.com
We encourage other campuses to follow this
path. -- L&L

Group Finds Discourse on Middle East Conflict:
Students Emphasize Friends to Build Relations

By EMMA SCHWARTZ
Contributing Writer

Amid shouts of hatred fueled by the Middle East
conflict, one UC Berkeley student group seeking to represent a variety of
perspectives calls for a dialogue of understanding.
"Friends" is a common buzzword for members
of Salaam Shalom, a group that aims to build peaceful relations between
Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs, and Jews on campus. "People say
dialogue is easy, but it's not easy to tear your soul inside out," says
group member Judy Gussman.
The group's first meeting, held at the end of the
spring semester, was at times heated as the group tried to make sense of
violence through open dialogue. "It was a little tense," says
Laura Haddad, a Salaam Shalom member. "But as someone at the meeting
put it, if it weren't a little tense we wouldn't have been getting anything
done. However, if we hadn't been friends first, we wouldn't have been
able to hold that discussion."
The group has yet to stage an open forum on serious
issues surrounding the conflict. For now, the students focus on forging
friendships between members. "We haven't had a big discussion
because we believe we have to know each other first," Haddad says.
The first dialogue, which was just for the group
organizers, asked members what brought them to the group in an attempt to make
the discussion personal rather than political. "It has involved a
great deal of soul-searching of things you were raised with," Gussman
says. "They all have the ability to step back from that and look at
their world in a new way."
The group began as an attempt to add a peaceful
perspective to the campus debate on the Middle East conflict. "I was
distressed by two things," says UC Berkeley graduate student Roger
Studley. "First, there is a lack of any communication between people
from different camps and groups. Secondly, everything on campus is one
group shouting at another and shouting back. It's very political, noisy,
and nobody is sitting down and talking to one another."
Many members of the group joined out of frustration
with the apparent lack of dialogue between already existing groups who have a
stake in the conflict. "I got involved because I noticed the intense
polarization on this issue," says Robin Baral, a UC Berkeley
student. "I've been here long enough and involved in enough activism
to know what happens. I felt like the politics had gotten in the way with
people getting to know each other."
Haddad says the group offers an alternative route for
those who don't feel a place in either of the two major political groups, the
Students for Justice in Palestine and the Israel Action Committee.
Students say that while they have no illusions that they are going to solve the
conflict, they believe a resolution cannot be reached without discussion.
"We take seriously that it is important to
understand someone else's view as much as your own," Studley says.
"We believe that the first thing you have to do is get to know an
individual. Once you have that, you are much less likely to shout and
will be able to understand someone's opinion with further complexity rather
than as a political stripe."
Students from Muslim and Jewish student groups said
that Salaam Shalom has great potential to clear up misunderstandings.
"I think this is a step in the right direction," says Salman Alam, a
board member of the Muslim Student Association. "Misinformation
about some of the main issues causes people to jump to wrong conclusions about
each other. Peaceful, respectful discussion is the best way to clear up
some of these misunderstandings," he added.
Other students remain hopeful and say dialogue could
form an important middle ground for students. "The only way to break
down stereotypes is to get to know people. If they can get a dialogue
going, it would be the only place on campus where that is happening," said
Rebekah Stern, an active member of Berkeley Hillel.
Salaam Shalom members hope their group will be a model
for students on the Berkeley campus and all over the country. Group
members say they have received e-mails from students across the country who are
beginning to form similar groups. "Without being able to talk,
you're going to be stuck," Studley says. "Modestly, we can
demonstrate this approach. If somehow that winds up making other people
who are more important in the game take notice, that's a good thing."
Haddad says that they plan to set up a series of
discussions in the fall where students break into small groups with a
facilitator. "It's really in small groups where people will get to
know each other," Haddad says.